Bill Smith enjoys fishing for feisty rainbow trout in creeks near his home in the Hudson Valley, but every winter for the past 15 years he’s come up to the Salmon River to battle steelhead.

For example, one fisherman caught 400 salmon in one night in the Salmon River; these fish averaged about 15 pounds. Similarly, 2000 were speared in one night in Pulaski, and 3600 salmon were caught in ...